Gravitational Pull
by recklesscuriosity
Summary: They had a mutual attraction. Both too stubborn to admit anything. Who will cave first? (KakaSaku)
1. Chapter 1– Easier Said Than Done

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the characters, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Only my OC(s) (Not many though).**

_A/N: Here's something that wouldn't stop pestering me. I have an idea where I'm going with this one, or I might not. Mostly AU since Sasuke is back and this is set after the war. I'm setting this to be a light hearted fic, so not much doom and gloom. There will be an OC or two, but they're just to get the story moving along. Happy reading! :)_

* * *

**Chapter One **

**Easier Said Than Done**

"You're staring. Again."

Kakashi prided himself as a fine and elite shinobi of Konohagakure. An elite shinobi that was always well aware of his surroundings. This was not one of those times. Especially if Gai, Genma, and Raidou decided that their night off would be at a bar drinking sake like mad men. There were only two routes Kakashi could take.

Evasively ignore Genma's leering jibe, or play it off as if he wasn't just caught staring at his former pink haired student, who in fact sat with her two good friends, the Hyuuga heiress, Hinata and Yamanaka Ino, the daughter of his close colleague. They were laughing at something Sakura had said, and the pretty pinkette was blushing madly. Kakashi flippantly thought she looked rather cute.

Once he realized where his thoughts had headed. Kakashi silently chided himself, as he had mistakenly given Genma a window of opportunity to tease him. He clenched his jaw. Kakashi blamed the sake. Oh yes the sake.

"At what?" Kakashi asked, one grey half-masted eye zoned in on Genma when he dragged his lone eye from Sakura.

Genma had the audacity to smirk; this irked the gray haired Jounin even more, but he was trained well enough not to let any emotions through. He was the perfect picture of nonchalance.

"Sa-ku-ra," Genma said enunciating her name by syllables. For effect he raised his sake cup and gave Kakashi a leering wink. "Don't worry, I understand why you'd have the hot's for her. She sure is a beauty."

Gai and Raidou paused their conversation when they heard Genma screech and suddenly fall out of his chair. Kakashi had narrowed his eye dangerously once Genma's comment had slipped out. An empty sake bottle had found itself thrown at Genma's throat and the sebon chewing Jounin had become acquainted with the floor.

"Haa…" Kakashi chuckled dryly. He managed to look sheepish as he stood up, and wobbled slightly. Kakashi grabbed the back of the chair and waved to his friends. "I think I've had too much to drink. I'll see myself home. Goodnight."

Echo's of farewells were heard from Gai and Raidou respectively. An exclamation of another contest from Gai, something about Kakashi's "youthful spirit to sleep early", and a simple goodbye from Raidou. Only sounds of pain came from Genma as he picked himself up and into his chair.

Kakashi sighed and rubbed his Sharingan eye. His eye was bothering him more than usual. Most likely from it's overuse from his previous mission. That's why Tsunade-sama had given him a week or so off, or more like a mission to relax, forcing him to take a break. Ever since the Fourth War ended, Kakashi had thrown himself into nonstop missions that came up, nearly verging on ANBU missions that couldn't be helped. Tsunade had enough and pretty much, for the lack of a better term, grounded him.

A headache from all the drinking was not welcome, as he had felt a throb at his brow. Also his inability to see everything without a duplicate was anything to go by was that he had a little bit too much to drink. The only thing that saved him from utter humiliation was his shinobi instincts. This led him to walk, without the stumbling.

Lost in thought, he strolled past Sakura and her friends. His sense of smell caught her faint scent of rose. It made him walk faster, to banish those thoughts from his head. Kakashi knew that his dreams would be filled with rose-smelling pinkettes that night. He was way in over his head.

* * *

"Sakura, stop staring," Ino chided, just as Sakura watched Kakashi walk out the doors of the bar. "I thought you didn't want your sensei to know that you have a crush on him."

Sakura felt a blush spread over her cheeks as her friends laughed at her expression.

"I-I don't," she exclaimed and crossed her arms. "I just admire him as a colleague. I do not have a crush on Kakashi."

"Why are you blushing Sakura-chan?" Hinata asked, a knowing smile on her serene features. She lifted her glass of wine to her lips.

"Natural reaction to such bold accusations." Sakura glared at Ino.

Ino only grinned and waved her away with a hand.

"Oh sure, sure, whatever helps you sleep at night," Ino said nonchalant. But Sakura knew her better.

Sakura knew better than to push and goad Ino with protests, the blonde girl just wouldn't relent. Poor Hinata always got caught in the middle, trying to dissuade the girls from arguing so loudly. Of course to not get thrown out. They had gone to a good bar, one of the ones that they still hadn't gotten kicked out of. Hinata quite liked the quality of their wine.

_Maybe I'll come back_, the dark haired heiress thought as she watched her friends bicker.

"Anyways," Sakura slammed her hands onto the table, not chakra infused, and pushed her chair away from her with a subtle screech. "It's late and I have to work tomorrow, have a goodnight girls."

Ino and Hinata shared a look. Sakura was being as stubborn as ever.

"Bye Sakura, don't do anything I wouldn't do," Ino said excitedly and waved the medic off happily.

Hinata smiled at the Yamanaka and gave Sakura a polite head bow.

"Goodnight Sakura-san, have a safe trip home." Hinata stood up as well just as Sakura smiled at them and left. Hinata turned to Ino. "I think I'll head home as well."

Ino pouted and followed her friend to the door. "No fair Hinata! I thought I could count on you tonight to not leave me!"

"G-Gomen, Ino-chan. I promised my father and Neji-niisan I would be home soon," Hinata said, worry seeped into her eyes. Someone caught the Hyuuga's attention and she motioned Ino to look. "Genma-san is trying to catch your attention. Goodnight Ino-chan."

"Goodnight, Hinata," Ino said with a sigh and gave her a smile. "See you later."

Hinata nodded and pushed open the doors and left. Ino looked over to Genma. A smirk made it's way to her expression as she eyed the brown haired Jounin. Maybe being "alone" wouldn't be so bad, she thought as she made her way over to him.

* * *

Sakura hadn't expected the weather to be so chilly; it was only the beginning of September. Goose bumps covered her arms as she walked down the streets, and she let some chakra spread over her body to warm her up. The wind was very strong that night, and the leaves rustled even more so than usual. Sakura eagerly picked up her pace, eager to get home, sip some hot tea and then sleep. Her day had been exhausting, a glance at her wristwatch told her that it was nearly two o'clock in the morning. Sakura walked the familiar streets to get home and silently noted the leering looks from the suspicious men lurking in the corners. The district the bar was located was where shinobi and civilians usually mixed, so it wasn't uncommon to see civilians around.

Still she didn't like the way they were looking at her. It made her skin crawl, that or she was just extra cold as Sakura obviously had forgotten her jacket before she had left home for the evening. A guy made a beckoning motion and gave her a wink. She shuddered and seconds later, Sakura gave up and leapt to the rooftops. Effectively she steered herself away from the creepy men and into the familiar shinobi travel routes. Even though Sakura prided herself as a skilled kunoichi, she didn't want to cause trouble with civilians. Being them creeps or not.

The best part of a long day was a nice scented bath, with a good book to read. Sakura was more on hospital duty than on any missions lately, even so the bath oils were a special kind from a small village near the Land of Tea. They were made especially for kunoichi's in need of some self-pampering. Ino had gotten them in a set for Sakura for her birthday. They had a rose scent with hidden traces of green tea leaves. Sakura sighed and let the warm bath encase her. Fifteen minutes later she was out and wrapped up in her bed and her exhaustion lulled her to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2– Lingering Roses

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the characters, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Only my characters.

_A/N: Oh, silly me. Kakashi does have his Sharingan. And don't mind Genma much, usually he's interpreted as a flirt and a letch, but I beg to differ and find him to be quite laid back. He's supposed to be a witty man always cracking jokes. Which I guess could be flirting, but I wanted to do a less toned down version of him. Uhm, I guess this is AU because the manga right now is so crazy, like words can't even describe how I feel about it. I'm really wondering what __Kishimoto is gonna do to get all the characters out of the shitstorm he put them in. _

_Anyways, an interesting chapter again. Sorry it's not too long, it's late, I'm tired but I wanted to post something because this time I think I've written something "readworthy." _

_Thank you all for reading! Please comment. Constructive criticism is encouraged! If you have any questions, please do ask! I've spoken too much. Enjoy!_

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**_Chapter 2_**

**_Lingering Roses _**

Sakura remember why she didn't like her Trauma rotation. Civilians could be very bothersome when it came to their family members. Their worries were sometimes over the top. Oh yes, she was more than capable for handling a chaotic situation. Didn't mean she had to _like _it.

"Sakura-san! This man needs to have his leg healed up!" A nurse exclaimed.

"Hai!" she replied over the noise of the emergency room.

Sakura signed some papers for another medic and rushed over to the injured man.

This is what she was skilled in, so there was no use in complaining. Plus, she really appreciated the gratefulness of the patients when they were feeling better. It gave her a sense of satisfaction that she was helping someone, and that was enough for her.

Five or so hours later Sakura collapsed into her chair in her office. She had been running around the whole hospital the entire day. Tsunade had made her Executive Administrator of the hospital so she had new duties to preform. It was tough to run a hospital when the Chief, being Shizune, was the Hokage's assistant. But Sakura was trying to balance everything. She didn't think that she had to sign so many things in one day. The foreboding amount of papers stacked on her desk looked more evil by the minute. Just as Sakura managed to muster enough courage to grab the first file on the stack, a nurse burst through her door.

"Oh, Sakura-san! We need your assistance in the Critical Care Unit," a blonde haired nurse exclaimed.

Sakura suppressed the urge to sigh. More distractions. Vaguely she thought that this was what Tsunade-shishou must feel like being Hokage with paper work flying through and grabbing at the first distraction available. The parallels were uncanny to say in the least.

"Let me see their chart," Sakura said, an authorities tone taking root.

The nurse relented the chart as they hurried through the hallways to the CCU; her office was on the same level. She flipped the page and rolled her eyes. Shiranui Genma was the patient; _of course_ they needed help from her. Sakura always was called to manage the difficult patients, really only because everyone saw her as a mini Tsunade. She would be offended by the comments, but she appreciated the comparison more than she would admit. The CCU was the second Unit that was used for patients that were worse off for others.

For safety reasons they were both separate from each other. The ICU was used for Civilians and those more complacent shinobi. The CCU was specially designed for those shinobi that were badly injured and tended to cause havoc while badly injured; safety precautions as always had to be taken for every party. Konoha had the nasty streak of having stubborn shinobi, or more like stubborn Jounin, that refused to listen and stay put and recover fully.

Room 508 had its door open and she faintly heard shouting. Sakura sighed, what could possibly be wrong now.

"Shiranui-san you can't discharge yourself, only your Medic can!" another nurse was saying as Genma was slipping on the top part of his Jounin uniform.

"Hospitals suck and I'm not in any pain," he gritted out.

"Genma get back into bed," Sakura snapped, he patience had worn thin. "You just had extensive surgery yesterday so I suggest you get back into bed before I'm forced to take other methods."

The Tokubetsu Jounin finally noticed her standing in the hospital room and a knowing smile formed on his lips.

"Hello Sakura-san," he quipped happily. "How are you this fine evening?"

"Irked," she retorted and placed a hand on her hip. "Enough with the pleasantries. I don't want the trouble of going into surgery just because you decided to reopen your wounds."

Genma ignored her comments and just settled for walking closer to her.

"For a pretty thing such as yourself," he said. "Of course, anything."

Genma smiled at her lazily and climbed into bed and covered himself up. The two nurses in the room seemed to deflate with happiness.

Sakura frowned at his agreeing manner. He'd usually put up more of a fight than anything when it came to his hospital stay. Her eyes shifted to his IV stand where the morphine hung. She understood immediately why he was so agreeable. Genma was upped on enough morphine to knockout a cow. She was surprised he was even talking normally. The nurses that worked in the CCU went to too many unnecessary extremes. Some shinobi had a very high pain tolerance. What they weren't tolerant of were hospitals.

"Next time just call me if you want to be discharged Genma," Sakura tutted as she re-did his IV line and brought the dosage of morphine down. No wonder he thought he was feeling fine enough to leave. "Get some rest, and you'll be good to leave in two weeks."

Genma sighed, his mouth quirked slightly. "I'm not the only one here ya know," he muttered and crossed his arms.

Sakura looked up from his chart, where she was changing a few errors she had found. "Hm," she hummed looking at him.

"Kakashi was on the same mission I was on, and I heard that Tsunade-sama was working on him for a while before she deemed him clear," Genma smirked as he watched Sakura's reaction.

He was disappointed to find she didn't have one. Only the slight crease in her brow gave away she was thinking something.

"Oh, thank you Genma," Sakura gave him a false cheery smile, he frowned at that. "Don't cause anymore trouble for your nurses, because next time I won't be so nice."

"Hai," he mumbled and stared after the pinkette as she spoke to Umi, his main nurse.

Sakura found Kakashi's room relatively fast as it was two doors down from Genma's. If anyone were to peek into the room, they would've found the Jounin fast asleep. Sakura tsked. She knew him better than that. He was one of her crazy boys; Kakashi never let his guard down, much less in a hospital, a hospital that he abhorred.

He sensed her just as she grabbed his chart hanging at the foot of his bed.

"I thought Tsunade-shishou had put you off duty for a week, Kakashi," Sakura checked a few things off on his chart and placed it down. The nurse hadn't come by to check him for the night. She walked to his side and started his check up.

"She owes me then," he replied monotonously as she fiddled with the machinery and his IV.

Kakashi opened his eye and stared at Sakura as she checked him over. Her hands glowed faintly green, as she made sure his wounds were closed and everything was healing properly. Just to be on the safe side, she sent a cooling wave of healing chakra through his system to speed up his healing process. Sakura felt her former sensei relax as she finished her check up. She fought not to roll her eyes.

When a patient needs morphine, they didn't give it. Sakura made a mental note to have a meeting with the hospital nurses about shinobi care, because obviously they were so far doing very poorly.

"Alright, I need to check your eye," Sakura motioned to his eye that was covered in a bandage wrap.

"Sakura, I think you've done enough," Kakashi said, eyeing her as she came closer. Sakura looked as if she was running on automatic mode. She was never so formal when providing him with medical care. He noticed her chakra reserves were also low, dangerously low. The girl needed food and a great amount of sleep.

"What, no I'm fine, you're my last patient for the night," Sakura said, giving him a reassuring smile. Her hand reached for his eye and Kakashi caught her wrist before she could go any further.

Sakura stared at him, no comprehending why he had stopped her.

"Go home, Sakura," he said, his voice nearly lulled her to sleep as she became aware of her senses. "You need sleep."

Sakura extracted her wrist from his soft grip and nodded. Eying him oddly.

"I'll come by tomorrow to finish then," she said, grabbing the chart and signing it.

"I'll be here," Kakashi gave his usual eye smile.

"Okay," Sakura nodded. "Goodnight, Kakashi."

Once she was gone from his room, Kakashi allowed himself to relax fully. Her rose scent followed after her but it seemed to linger in the air around him. Sakura was always there to take care of him. He didn't know that she'd come and find him that night. He knew his nurse had gone home and had forgotten to give him his last check up and medicine. As if by a stroke of luck, Sakura had appeared alleviated his back pain and his abdominal pains he had been having. Kakashi didn't know if he deserved being around someone so selfless, when he was feeling nothing but selfish when it came to her.


End file.
